Patna: The Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) has failed to implement its own orders.

On April 18, the civic body had issued a showcause notice to people running a girls' hostel from Nandan Vatika Apartment on East Boring Canal Road because it was on a residential property.

Th PMC rulebook says commercial activities are not allowed on residential property and thus it is illegal. Those who were served notices by the PMC include the owner of the flat and the one who was running the hostel. Two months on, the hostel is still running from the same residential plot.

Shilpi Singh, one of the members of the Nandan Vatika Apartment housing society, said its members had approached the civic body two months ago after they came to know that the hostel was being run from their society.

"No permission was taken from the municipal corporation to conduct commercial activity in the society. When we found this, we approached the PMC. After finding our complaint true, the civic body issued a showcause notice to those involved in running the hostel but there has been no follow-up since then. It is absurd that the civic body doesn't implement its own order. Necessary action should have been taken against the people concerned," said Shilpi, a social activist.

"By running commercial activity from a residential premise people are evading commercial tax. This might be one case in my surroundings but I have seen many hostels running from residential properties, which is a blatant violation of norms. But no one cares," she added.

On why the PMC has not taken action against those running the hostel from Nandan Vatika Apartment, municipal commissioner Anupam Kumar Suman said he was not aware of the issue. "Please give me its details tomorrow. Necessary action would be taken against the defaulters," he said.

Deputy mayor Vinay Kumar Pappu admitted that the PMC had not been able to check commercial use of residential properties so far.

"Those running commercial business from residential properties never provide details of their commercial activity in the plot's map and later start commercial activities. The PMC is not taking action against such establishments. May be it has limited manpower because of which it cannot take action," said Pappu, who said in case one shows that he/she has rented out his/her accommodation, in that case too one should pay commercial taxes.